2010年马乌莱MW8.8地震震后形变三维黏弹性数值模拟

2010年智利马乌莱M_W8.8地震发生在纳斯卡板块与南美板块的板块边界处,引起了显著的同震和震后效应。GPS台网数据显示记录到的同震海向位移最大约5 m,垂向沉降最大约50 cm。在经过对俯冲效应、季节变化等效应的校正后,震后6年的海向最大位移约68 cm,垂向抬升最大约20 cm。马乌莱地震显著的震后形变对该区域的地下三维黏弹性结构有良好的约束。本文建立了智利中南部俯冲带区域的三维有限元模型,黏弹性的地幔楔及海洋地幔均使用伯格斯体材料,并在断层面上设置2 km厚的软弱层以模拟震后余滑。在与GPS台站震后位移数据进行比较后,模拟结果表明,大洋地幔顶部存在约120 km厚,黏度为1×1019 Pa·s的软流圈。模拟震后余滑效应的软弱层黏度为5×1017 Pa·s,其等效震后余滑的最大值在震后前两年接近2 m,且随着时间的增长而快速衰减。      

Mechanisms of Transient Postseismic Deformation Following the 2001 Mw 7.8 Kunlun (China) Earthquake

Using global positioning system (GPS) technology, significant postseismic surface displacements were observed within the first 4 months after the 2001 Mw 7.8 Kunlun earthquake which occurred in China. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms that may have possibly contributed to the postseismic deformations that have been observed. Based on the modeling results, we find that an afterslip model can interpret postseismic displacements in the near field even when the fault plane is extended to the bottom of the crust (~70 km). Models based on the viscoelastic relaxation theory showed a large discrepancy in the spatial pattern of the deformation compared with what has been observed. Thus, we infer that both mechanisms cannot interpret the observed postseismic deformation independently. A combination of afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation can further improve the data fit, especially at sites far from the fault. With maximum afterslip of ~0.4 m occurring at a depth of 10 km in the central section, the combined model shows that the estimated afterslip occurred mostly on and below the coseismic rupture plane, as well as on its eastern extension. The estimated moment released by the afterslip in the first 4 months is almost 40% of that released by the coseismic slip. The best-fitting viscoelastic relaxation model shows a “weak” upper mantle with a viscosity of ~1.0 × 10¹⁸ Pa s. The combined model also suggests the existence of a lower crust with viscosity larger than 1.0 × 10¹⁸ Pa s, although it cannot be constrained accurately.     

Postseismic Deformation Following the 2010 $$M = 7.2$$ El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake: Observations,Kinematic Inversions,and Dynamic Models

Due to its location on a transtensional section of the Pacific-North American plate boundary, the Salton Trough is a region featuring large strike-slip earthquakes within a regime of shallow asthenosphere, high heat flow, and complex faulting, and so postseismic deformation there may feature enhanced viscoelastic relaxation and afterslip that is particularly detectable at the surface. The 2010 \(M = 7.2\) El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake was the largest shock in the Salton Trough since 1892 and occurred close to the US-Mexico border, and so the postseismic deformation recorded by the continuous GPS network of southern California provides an opportunity to study the rheology of this region. Three-year postseismic transients extracted from GPS displacement time-series show four key features: (1) 1–2 cm of cumulative uplift in the Imperial Valley and \(\sim\)1 cm of subsidence in the Peninsular Ranges, (2) relatively large cumulative horizontal displacements \(>\)150 km from the rupture in the Peninsular Ranges, (3) rapidly decaying horizontal displacement rates in the first few months after the earthquake in the Imperial Valley, and (4) sustained horizontal velocities, following the rapid early motions, that were still visibly ongoing 3 years after the earthquake. Kinematic inversions show that the cumulative 3-year postseismic displacement field can be well fit by afterslip on and below the coseismic rupture, though these solutions require afterslip with a total moment equivalent to at least a \(M = 7.2\) earthquake and higher slip magnitudes than those predicted by coseismic stress changes. Forward modeling shows that stress-driven afterslip and viscoelastic relaxation in various configurations within the lithosphere can reproduce the early and later horizontal velocities in the Imperial Valley, while Newtonian viscoelastic relaxation in the asthenosphere can reproduce the uplift in the Imperial Valley and the subsidence and large westward displacements in the Peninsular Ranges. We present two forward models of dynamically coupled deformation mechanisms that fit the postseismic transient well: a model combining afterslip in the lower crust, Newtonian viscoelastic relaxation in a localized zone in the lower crust beneath areas of high heat flow and geothermal activity, and Newtonian viscoelastic relaxation in the asthenosphere; and a second model that replaces the afterslip in the first model with viscoelastic relaxation with a stress-dependent viscosity in the mantle. The rheology of this high-heat-flow, high-strain-rate region may incorporate elements of both these models and may well be more complex than either of them.     

Coseismic deformation of the 2020 Yutian MW 6.4 earthquake from Sentinel-1A and the slip inversion

A remarkable earthquake struck Yutian, China on June 26th, 2020. Here, we use Sentinel-1 images to investigate the deformation induced by this event. We invert the InSAR observations using a two-step approach: a nonlinear inversion to constrain fault geometries with uniform slip based on the rectangular plane dislocation in an elastic half-space, followed by a linear inversion to retrieve the slip distribution on the fault plane. The results show that the maximum LOS displacement is 22.6 ​cm, and the fault accessed to the ruptured characteristics of normal faults with the minor left-lateral strike-slip component. The fault model indicates a 210° strike. The main rupture zone concentrates in the depth of 5–15 ​km, and the fault slip peaks at 0.89 ​m at the depth of 9 ​km. Then, we calculate the variation of the static Coulomb stress based on the optimal fault model, the results suggest that the Coulomb stress of the Altyn Tagh fault and other neighboring faults has increased and more attention should be paid to possible seismic risks.     

Reconciling strong slab pull and weak plate bending: The plate motion constraint on the strength of mantle slabs

Although subducting slabs undergo a bending deformation that resists tectonic plate motions, the magnitude of this resistance is not known because of poor constraints on slab strength. However, because slab bending slows the relatively rapid motions of oceanic plates, observed plate motions constrain the importance of bending. We estimated the slab pull force and the bending resistance globally for 207 subduction zone transects using new measurements of the bending curvature determined from slab seismicity. Predicting plate motions using a global mantle flow model, we constrain the viscosity of the bending slab to be at most ~ 300 times more viscous than the upper mantle; stronger slabs are intolerably slowed by the bending deformation. Weaker slabs, however, cannot transmit a pull force sufficient to explain rapid trenchward plate motions unless slabs stretch faster than seismically observed rates of ~ 10^− 15 s^− 1. The constrained bending viscosity (~ 2 × 10²³ Pa s) is larger than previous estimates that yielded similar or larger bending resistance (here ~ 25% of forces). This apparent discrepancy occurs because slabs bend more gently than previously thought, with an average radius of curvature of 390 km that permits subduction of strong slabs. This gentle bending may ultimately permit plate tectonics on Earth.     

Viscoelastic deformations after the 2006–2007 Simushir earthquakes

Continuous measurements at the Kuril GPS network since 2006 have revealed anomalous coseismic and postseismic displacements of the Earth’s crust, which accompanied the great 2006–2007 earthquake doublet in the central Kuriles and were observed during 2.5 years after the events. Prior to the earthquakes, all observation sites of the Kuril network were moving towards the continent due to the subduction deformation of the continental margin. After the events, the direction of displacement had changed to the opposite direction at the stations located on the Matua, Ketoy, and Kharimkotan Islands, which were the nearest to the seismic events, and experienced a significant turn on the Urup Island nearby. Modeling of postseismic viscoelastic relaxation of strains in the asthenosphere suggested an acceptable explanation for the long-term anomalous offsets revealed. By solving the corresponding inverse problems, we estimated the viscosity of the upper mantle and constrained the slip distribution of the 2006 Simushir earthquake.     

Estimates of the transition zone temperature in a mechanically mixed upper mantle

Partial melting of mantle peridotite generates a physically and chemically layered oceanic lithosphere that is cycled back into the mantle in subduction zones. Stirring times of the mantle are too long to allow for complete re-homogenization of subducted basalt and harzburgite, given the low chemical diffusivity of the solid mantle. This suggests that the Earth's mantle is a mechanical mixture of basaltic and harzburgitic components. Using a recently developed thermodynamic formulism we determine the phase equilibria and the seismic properties of a mantle comprised of a mechanical mixture of basalt and harzburgite (MM) and a homogeneous mantle (EA) with identical pyrolitic bulk chemistry. We use the theoretical shear velocity profiles as a new thermometer of the mantle below the magma-genetic zone by modeling the difference ΔT_410-660 between traveltimes of shear wave reflections off the 410-km and 660-km with the potential temperature T_P. ΔT_410-660 are measured from waveform stacks. They indicate that, over 1000+ km wave lengths, the temperature varies by about 200 K. Lowest and highest temperatures are resolved for the western Pacific subduction zones and the central Pacific, respectively. This variation is similar for the EA and MM and is in excellent agreement with estimates of transition zone thickness and shear velocity variations. The median value of T_P for the EA is 1720 K. It is about 1625 K for the MM, a value that is in better agreement with the Normal-MORB values of 1610 ± 40 K inferred from olivine-liquid equilibria given that our sampling region encompasses the Western Pacific subduction zones and the oldest parts of the Pacific Plate. We argue therefore that a mechanical mixed mantle, with generally higher velocities and steeper velocities gradients, represents a better physical reference model than a model based on a fully equilibrated assemblage.     

Dynamic mechanisms of the post-seismic deformation following large events: Case study of the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan of China

The mechanism of postseismic deformation related to strong earthquakes is important in geodynamics, and presumably afterslip or viscoelastic relaxation is responsible for the postsesimic deformation. The 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan of China, earthquake occurred in the region where GPS observation station is most densely deployed in the world. The unprecedented GPS data provides a unique opportunity to study the physical processes of postseismic deformation. Here we assume that the interactions of viscoelastic relaxation, afterslip, fault zone collapse, poroelastic rebound, flow of underground fluids, and all these combined contribute to the surface displacements following the main shock. In order to know the essence of the postseismic deformation after the strong event, fault zone collapse, poroelastic rebound, flow of underground fluids, and so on, are represented equivalently by the variations of the focal medium properties. Therefore, the viscoelastic relaxation, afterslip, and the variations of the equivalent focal medium properties are inverted by applying the GPS temporal series measurement data with viscoelastic finite element method. Both the afterslip rate distribution along the fault and the afterslip evolution with time are obtained by means of inversion. Also, the preliminary result suggests that viscosities of the lower crust and the upper mantle in Taiwan region is 2.7×10¹⁸ and 4.2×10²⁰ Pa·s, respectively. Moreover, the inversion results indicate that the afterslip contributing to postseismic deformation of 44.6% in 450 days after the Chi-Chi earthquake, with 34.7% caused by the viscous relaxation and 20.7% by other factors such as fault zone collapse, poroelastic rebound, and the flow of liquids.     

Dynamics of thinning and destruction of the continental cratonic lithosphere: Numerical modeling

Thinning of the cratonic lithosphere is common in nature, but its destruction is not. In either case, the mechanisms for both thinning and destruction are still widely under debate. In this study, we have made a review on the processes and mechanisms of thinning and destruction of cratonic lithosphere according to previous studies of geological/geophysical observations and numerical simulations, with specific application to the North China Craton (NCC). Two main models are suggested for the thinning and destruction of the NCC, both of which are related to subduction of the oceanic lithosphere. One is the “bottom-up” model, in which the deeply subducting slab perturbs and induces upwelling from the hydrous mantle transition zone (MTZ). The upwelling produces mantle convection and erodes the bottom of the overriding lithosphere by the fluid-melt-peridotite reaction. Mineral compositions and rheological properties of the overriding lithospheric mantle are changed, allowing downward dripping of lithospheric components into the asthenosphere. Consequently, lithospheric thinning or even destruction occurs. The other is the “top-down” model, characterized by the flat subduction of oceanic slab beneath the overriding cratonic lithosphere. Dehydration reactions from the subducting slab would significantly hydrate the lithospheric mantle and decrease its rheological strength. Then the subduction angle may be changed from shallow to steep, inducing lateral upwelling of the asthenosphere. This upwelling would heat and weaken the overriding lithospheric mantle, which led to the weakened lithospheric mantle dripping into the asthenosphere. These two models have some similarities, in that both take the subducting oceanic slab and relevant fluid migration as the major driving mechanism for thinning or destruction of the overriding cratonic lithosphere. The key difference between the two models is the effective depth of the subducting oceanic slab. One is stagnation and flattening in the MTZ, whereas the other is flat subduction at the bottom of the cratonic lithosphere. In the NCC, the eastern lithosphere was likely affected by subduction of the Izanagi slab during the Mesozoic, which would have perturbed the asthenosphere and the MTZ, and induced fluid migration beneath the NCC lithosphere. The upwelling fluid may largely have controlled the reworking of the NCC lithosphere. In order to discuss and analyze these two models further, it is crucial to understand the role of fluids in the subduction zone and the MTZ. Here, we systematically discuss phase transformations of hydrous minerals and the transport processes of water in the subduction system. Furthermore, we analyze possible modes of fluid activity and the problems to explore the applied feasibility of each model. In order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms for thinning and destruction of cratonic lithosphere, we also consider four additional possible dynamic models: extension-induced lithospheric thinning, compression-induced lithospheric thickening and delamination, large-scale mantle convection and thermal erosion, and mantle plume erosion. Compared to the subduction-related models presented here, these four models are primarily controlled by the relatively simple and single process and mechanism (extension, compression, convection, and mantle plume, respectively), which could be the secondary driving mechanisms for the thinning and destruction of lithosphere.     

Recent crustal deformation and the earthquake cycle along the Ecuador-Colombia subduction zone

Recent results from Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements show deformation along the coast of Ecuador and Colombia that can be linked to the rupture zone of the earthquake in 1979. A 3D elastic boundary element model is used to simulate crustal deformation observed by GPS campaigns in 1991, 1994, 1996, and 1998. Deformation in Ecuador can be explained best by 50% apparent locking on the subduction interface. Although there have not been any historic large earthquakes (M_w>7) south of the 1906 earthquake rupture zone, 50% apparent elastic locking is necessary to model the deformation observed there. In Colombia, only 30% apparent elastic locking is occurring along the subduction interface in the 1979 earthquake rupture zone (M_w 8.2), and no elastic locking is necessary to explain the crustal deformation observed at two GPS sites north of there. There is no evidence from seismicity or plate geometry that plate coupling on the subduction zone is reduced in Colombia. However, simple viscoelastic models suggest that the apparent reduction in elastic locking can be explained entirely by the response of a viscous upper mantle to the 1979 earthquake. These results suggest that elastic strain accumulation is occurring evenly throughout the study area, but postseismic relaxation masks the true total strain rate.     

1976年唐山地震震时和震后变形的模拟

本文采用三维粘弹性有限元方法拟合唐山地区１９７６-１９８５年观测到的地震震时和震后的水平与垂直地形变，反演华北板块下方深部物质的流变学性质．模型采用多层弹性覆盖层与线性粘弹性层的有限块体，发展断层面上存在着位错运动，并用正交设计法拟合观测数据．模拟计算表明，华北板块下方软流层粘度为７．１×１０^１８Ｐａ·ｓ；上地幔粘度为２．１×１０^１９Ｐａ·ｓ．     

Experimental models of extension of continental lithosphere weakened by percolation of asthenospheric melts

Analogue models are used to investigate extension of a continental lithosphere weakened by asthenospheric melts percolating through the upper mantle, a process that has been hypothesised to control the opening of the Ligurian Tethys. Models were performed in a centrifuge apparatus and reproduced, by using materials such as sand and viscous mixtures, extension of 60-km thick, three-layer continental lithosphere floating above the asthenosphere. The percolated lithospheric mantle was assumed to be characterised by a rheological behaviour similar to that of the asthenosphere. Two sets of experiments investigated the influence on deformation of (1) the thickness of the percolated mantle and the associated strength contrast between the normal and weakened lithosphere, and (2) the lateral width of the weakened zone. Model results suggest that mantle percolation by asthenospheric melts is able to promote strong localised thinning of the continental lithosphere, provided that a significant thickness of the lithospheric mantle is weakened by migrating melts within a narrow region. Strain localisation is maximised for percolation of the whole lithospheric mantle and strong strength contrast between the normal and weakened lithosphere. Under these conditions, the thickness of the lithosphere may be reduced to less than 12 km in 3 Ma of extension. Conversely, localised thinning is strongly reduced if the thickness of the percolated zone is ≤1/3 of the thickness of the whole lithospheric mantle and/or the lithosphere is weakened over wide regions. Overall, model results support the working hypothesis that mantle percolation by asthenospheric melts is a controlling factor in the transition from distributed continental deformation to localised oceanic spreading.     

Seismic anisotropy beneath the Chinese Mainland: Constraints from shear wave splitting analyses

We use earthquakes recorded by the China National Seismic Network from 2015 to 2019 and measure shear wave splitting parameters of SKS to study the anisotropic characteristics beneath the mainland of China. In general, the fast directions change from nearly E-W in western China (northwest China and Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau) to nearly N–S in central China (Ordos and Sichuan-Yunnan), and then turn to approximately E-W in eastern China (North and South China). The delay times of slow wave in eastern China are about 1.0–1.7 ​s, larger than those in central and western China (about 0.6–1.0 ​s). In addition, the fast directions in eastern China are highly consistent with the plate motion direction and horizontal GPS velocities with respect to Eurasia, indicating that the observed anisotropy is mainly from the asthenosphere which is strongly coupled to the overlying lithosphere. However, the fast directions in western China are mostly in accord with the strike of the surface structures (such as faults), possibly due to the directional arrangement of crystal lattices caused by shear deformation under tectonic activities.     

Current motion and short-term deformations in the Suez–Sinai area from GPS observations

We analyze observations from eight GPS campaigns carried out between 1997 and 2005 on a network of 13 sites in the Suez–Sinai area, where separation between the African and the Arabian plates takes place. This is the key area to understand if and in which way Sinai behaves like a sub-plate of the African plate and the role played by seismic and geodetic (long-term) deformation release.Our analysis shows that, on average, the Suez–Sinai area motion, in terms of ITRF00 velocities, matches the African plate motion defined by the NNR-NUVEL-1A model.The horizontal principal strain rate axes estimated separately in the Gulf of Suez area and in the northern Sinai vary from compression across the Gulf (−2.2 ± 1.2) × 10⁻⁸ year⁻¹ to NE extension (1.0 ± 1.5) × 10⁻⁸ year⁻¹ in the North, showing the presence of two distinct domains, so that in our opinion Sinai cannot be considered simply a unique rigid block.The analysis of GPS baseline length variations shows short-term deformations across the Gulf of Suez, reaching up a maximum value of more than 1 cm in 8 years.Since current geodynamical models do not predict significant tectonic deformation in this area, we work under the hypothesis that a contribute may be expected by post-seismic relaxation effects. Under this hypothesis, we compare the baselines length variations with the post-seismic relaxation field associated with five major local earthquakes occurred in the area, testing two different viscoelastic models. Our results show that the detected short-term deformations are better modeled for viscosity values of 10¹⁸ Pa s in the lower crust and 10²⁰ Pa s in the asthenosphere. However, since the modeled post-seismic effect results modest and a certain amount of the detected deformation is not accounted for, we think that an improved modeling should take into account the lateral heterogeneities of crust and upper mantle structures.     

The structure of the oceanic crust off southern Peru determined from an ocean bottom seismometer

An oceanic crustal model has been produced for the Nazca plate south of the Nazca Ridge prior to subduction into the Peru-Chile Trench at 18°S latitude. Consistent delays of theP_n arrivals and a discontinuity in the tau-p curve indicate a low-velocity zone at the base of the crust. Observed upper mantle velocities are low; however, the mantle velocity increases with depth, at least to 20 km, to a value of 8.5 km/s. A possible petrological cause for the low-velocity zone is partially serpentinized peridotite; however, no clear refracted shear waves were observed to constrain this interpretation.     

Upper mantle structure in the ocean-continent transition zone: Kamchatka

We consider results from modeling the crustal and upper mantle velocity structure in Kamchatka by seismic tomography and compare these with gravity data and present-day tectonics. We found a well-pronounced (in the physical fields) vertical and lateral variation for the upper mantle and found that it is controlled by fault tectonics. Not only are individual lithosphere blocks moving along faults, but also parts of the Benioff zone. The East Kamchatka volcanic belt (EKVB) is confined to the asthenospheric layer (the asthenosphere lens) at a depth of 70–80 km; this lens is 10–20 km thick and seismic velocity in it is lower by 2–4%. The top of the asthenosphere lens has the shape of a dome uplift beneath the Klyuchevskoi group of volcanoes and its thickness is appreciably greater; overall, the upper mantle in this region is appreciably stratified. A low-velocity heterogeneity (asthenolith) at least 100 km thick has been identified beneath the Central Kamchatka depression; we have determined its extent in the upper mantle and how it is related to the EKVB heterogeneities. Gravity data suggest the development of a rift structure under the Sredinnyi Range volcanic belt. The Benioff zone was found to exhibit velocity inhomogeneity; the anomalous zones that have been identified within it are related to asthenosphere inhomogeneities in the continental and oceanic blocks of the mantle.     

马尼拉俯冲带缺失中深源地震成因初探

马尼拉俯冲带是整个南海地震活动多发区,地震成因与南海的形成和构造演化关系密切.对马尼拉俯冲带地震数据和层析成像结果进行了深入分析.结果表明:马尼拉俯冲带的地震活动主要为密集的浅源地震,缺失中深源地震.进一步分析揭示:①脱水和榴辉岩的形成在南海洋壳到达软流圈前就基本停止.马尼拉俯冲带南部在较浅的深度就转变为塑性变形,并停...     

Miocene to Late Quaternary Patagonian basalts (46–47°S): Geochronometric and geochemical evidence for slab tearing due to active spreading ridge subduction

Miocene to Quaternary large basaltic plateaus occur in the back-arc domain of the Andean chain in Patagonia. They are thought to result from the ascent of subslab asthenospheric magmas through slab windows generated from subducted segments of the South Chile Ridge (SCR). We have investigated three volcanic centres from the Lago General Carrera–Buenos Aires area (46–47°S) located above the inferred position of the slab window corresponding to a segment subducted 6 Ma ago. (1) The Quaternary Río Murta transitional basalts display major, trace elements, and Sr and Nd isotopic features similar to those of oceanic basalts from the SCR and from the Chile Triple Junction near Taitao Peninsula (e.g., (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)_o = 0.70396–0.70346 and εNd = + 5.5 − + 3.0). We consider them as derived from the melting of a Chile Ridge asthenospheric mantle source containing a weak subduction component. (2) The Plio-Quaternary (< 3.3 Ma) post-plateau basanites from Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires (MLBA), Argentina, likely derive from small degrees of melting of OIB-type mantle sources involving the subslab asthenosphere and the enriched subcontinental lithospheric mantle. (3) The main plateau basaltic volcanism in this region is represented by the 12.4–3.3-Ma-old MLBA basalts and the 8.2–4.4-Ma-old basalts from Meseta Chile Chico (MCC), Chile. Two groups can be distinguished among these main plateau basalts. The first group includes alkali basalts and trachybasalts displaying typical OIB signatures and thought to derive from predominantly asthenospheric mantle sources similar to those of the post-plateau MLBA basalts, but through slightly larger degrees of melting. The second one, although still dominantly alkalic, displays incompatible element signatures intermediate between those of OIB and arc magmas (e.g., La/Nb > 1 and TiO₂ < 2 wt.%). These intermediate basalts differ from their strictly alkalic equivalents by having lower High Field Strength Element (HFSE) and higher εNd (up to + 5.4). These features are consistent with their derivation from an enriched mantle source contaminated by ca. 10% rutile-bearing restite of altered oceanic crust. The petrogenesis of the studied Mio-Pliocene basalts from MLBA and MCC is consistent with contributions of the subslab asthenosphere, the South American subcontinental lithospheric mantle and the subducted Pacific oceanic crust to their sources. However, their chronology of emplacement is not consistent with an ascent through an asthenospheric window opened as a consequence of the subduction of segment SCR-1, which entered the trench at 6 Ma. Indeed, magmatic activity was already important between 12 and 8 Ma in MLBA and MCC as well as in southernmost plateaus, i.e., 6 Ma before the subduction of the SCR-1 segment. We propose a geodynamic model in which OIB and intermediate magmas derived from deep subslab asthenospheric mantle did uprise through a tear-in-the-slab, which formed when the southernmost segments of the SCR collided with the Chile Trench around 15 Ma. During their ascent, they interacted with the Patagonian supraslab mantle and, locally, with slivers of subducted Pacific oceanic crust that contributed to the geochemical signature of the intermediate basalts.     

Why the Sacramento Delta area differs from other parts of the great valley: Numerical modeling of thermal structure and thermal subsidence of forearc basins

Data on present-day heat flow, subsidence history, and paleotemperature for the Sacramento Delta region, California, have been employed to constrain a numerical model of tectonic subsidence and thermal evolution of forearc basins. The model assumes an oceanic basement with an initial thermal profile dependent on its age subjected to refrigeration caused by a subducting slab. Subsidence in the Sacramento Delta region appears to be close to that expected for a forearc basin underlain by normal oceanic lithosphere of age 150 Ma, demonstrating that effects from both the initial thermal profile and the subduction process are necessary and sufficient. Subsidence at the eastern and northern borders of the Sacramento Valley is considerably less, approximating subsidence expected from the dynamics of the subduction zone alone. These results, together with other geophysical data, show that Sacramento Delta lithosphere, being thinner and having undergone deeper subsidence, must differ from lithosphere of the transitional type under other parts of the Sacramento Valley. Thermal modeling allows evaluation of the rheological properties of the lithosphere. Strength diagrams based on our thermal model show that, even under relatively slow deformation (10⁻¹⁷ s⁻¹), the upper part of the delta crystalline crust (down to 20–22 km) can fail in brittle fashion, which is in agreement with deeper earthquake occurrence. Hypocentral depths of earthquakes under the Sacramento Delta region extend to nearly 20 km, whereas, in the Coast Ranges to the west, depths are typically less than 12–15 km. The greater width of the seismogenic zone in this area raises the possibility that, for fault segments of comparable length, earthquakes of somewhat greater magnitude might occur than in the Coast Ranges to the west. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Focal mechanism and seismogenic structure of the Shiqu MS4.4 earthquake

The focal mechanism solution of the Shiqu M_S 4.4 earthquake occurred on May 16^th, 2017 in Sichuan Province is studied by the gCAP method using the waveform data from the regional seismic networks in Sichuan, Qinghai, Tibet and Gansu provinces. The strike/dip/dipping angle of the first nodal plane are 214°/80°/167° and those of the second nodal plane are 306°/77°/10°, the optimal centroid depth is 7.3 ​± ​0.6 ​km and the moment magnitude is M_W 4.5. Furthermore, the study investigates the robustness of the results against the error of crustal velocity structure, location, data quality and difference of seismic parameters, subsequently obtaining a stable resolved focal mechanism. According to the geological structure in the seismogenic area, spatial distribution of aftershock sequenceof the regional tectonic stress field, and the focal mechanism of the main shock, we suggest that the Shiqu earthquake is induced by a left-lateral strike-slip mechanism and the second nodal plane is inferred to be the seismogenic fault, consistent with the geometry of the Changshagongma fault which is the secondary fault of the northwest part of the Xianshuihe fault zone.